If you think some escorts charge too much ...

[operalover21]

This is a topic that comes up every so often and here's a little story to put it in perspective. I have a cabin on a lake in far Northern Wisconsin (basically in the middle of nowhere) that is part of a club (established in 1895) that sees 28 cabins in total. The membership has many of the same familes that built the place all those years ago. I spent about a month or so up there every summer. This past winter saw the retirement of my long time cleaning woman up there. So I had to find a new person. The "cabin" consists of two large screened in porches, master bedroom, 2 guestrooms, very small basic kitchen, 2 bathrooms, den, TV room -- comprising around 1800 square feet. The former cleaning woman charged $50, it took around 4 hours, and you could eat off the floor when she was done. She cleaned alone.

 

So I had this new guy come by yesterday to give me a quote. First, I'll probably offend some by describing him but ... who cares. He was around 60, dipped in cologne, very twinky and very prissing and his favorite phrase was "I'm very anally retentive" which he repeated several times. I was surprised to find this "type" up in these parts. What do they do in the middle of nowhere?

 

Anyway, he said it would take "all day" to clean my cabin and that he had a team of 4 people to clean. How much did he want to do the job? $350. Let me repeat that. $350. I smiled and didn't betray my shock but I've been laughing about it ever since. Seriously? $350. And they're not hot or naked? LOL. I pay $100 to have my 2000 square foot Manhattan apartment cleaned and my cleaner in the Hamptons charges $200 for a large house. $350 for a cabin in Wisconsin?

 

Think about that the next time you're hiring an escort and you think the price is too high

[Electra 225]

My cleaning man (yes, he is a man) charges me $60.00 every two weeks (every other Tuesday) for my 1100 square foot condo (does everything but the laundry, which I prefer to do myself) and brings his own supplies and equipment. We get along famously and he does an excellent job. I am in a "major" market (fourth largest city in the U.S.) and feel very, very lucky. It takes him less than 2 hours per visit to clean my place from top to bottom (no pun intended). Needless to say that he has a full list of clients and is booked solid for a 40+ hour week. He is also expert at special projects like cleaning up and detailing after a remodel job or other work done to the condo.

[Jscott]

Well, that $350 is for four people working all day. The same price for an escort is one person, one hour. Apples and oranges, to be sure, but both service-oriented professions And the best quote I've gotten is $60 for 2-hour job on my NYC apartment (most people I know pay more than that and feel guilty about it, lol.... but their so-called "Polish mafia" cleaners are still pretty damn reasonable).

[+ Gar1eth]

My parents had a 2250 sq ft 3 bedroom house until about 3 years ago, and I know they paid much less than 100 dollars to have it cleaned weekly. They probably only used to pay 50 to 75 dollars per cleaning. So maybe your retired cleaning woman has a friend still in the business?

 

Gman

[operalover21]

Well, that $350 is for four people working all day. The same price for an escort is one person, one hour. Apples and oranges, to be sure, but both service-oriented professions And the best quote I've gotten is $60 for 2-hour job on my NYC apartment (most people I know pay more than that and feel guilty about it, lol.... but their so-called "Polish mafia" cleaners are still pretty damn reasonable).

 

There is no way in hell it would take 4 people "all day" to clean the cabin when it took one elderly, overweight woman 4 hours to do it. So the time doesn't matter. The price is utterly ridiculous.

[operalover21]

My parents had a 2250 sq ft 3 bedroom house until about 3 years ago, and I know they paid much less than 100 dollars to have it cleaned weekly. They probably only used to pay 50 to 75 dollars per cleaning. So maybe your retired cleaning woman has a friend still in the business?

 

Gman

 

 

Unfortunately, I already wen that route. She doesn't. She was a gem. She had been doing it for 20 years. Apart from the price, this guy was so annoying I almost thought about asking him to leave but figured I'd wait for the quote. At one point (the cabin was built in the 1920s and there isn't anything "new" in the place for decades) he looked at the blinds on window and said "if you expect me to clean those, it will be extra but they're cheap and I'd just suggest replacing them." I can't imagine that his shtick goes over well in Wisconsin.

[+ Chris Eisenhower]

There is no way in hell it would take 4 people "all day" to clean the cabin when it took one elderly, overweight woman 4 hours to do it. So the time doesn't matter. The price is utterly ridiculous.

 

I tend to agree with you, Opera. I inherited my cleaning skills from my mother—who, even while suffering from emphysema could knock the shit out of a dirty house in nothing flat. To be fair, there's a major difference between "cleaning" and "deep cleaning" or cleaning and organizing too. Maybe that's what Mr. 350 wanted to offer as a first-time thing, followed by less expensive touch-ups. I know several cleaning people who do things that way with new clients.

[+ Gar1eth]

I inherited my cleaning skills from my mother

 

Chris,

 

Please marry me!!

 

http://thumb10.shutterstock.com/thumb_small/645253/125482286/stock-photo--d-man-getting-down-on-one-knee-and-giving-heart-to-you-over-white-background-125482286.jpg

 

Gman

[+ Chris Eisenhower]

Chris,

 

Please marry me!!

 

http://thumb10.shutterstock.com/thumb_small/645253/125482286/stock-photo--d-man-getting-down-on-one-knee-and-giving-heart-to-you-over-white-background-125482286.jpg

 

Gman

 

Her cleaning skills, and... her hyperresponsible ability to manage money.

 

Hold on, let me go get you a towel so you can clean yourself up.

 

[+ FreshFluff]

He was around 60, dipped in cologne, very twinky

 

60 and twinky?

[gallahadesquire]

I can't resist:

 

"Why do I pay my lawyer, who makes me feel so miserable, so much; and my cleaning lady, who makes me feel so good, so little?"

[operalover21]

I tend to agree with you, Opera. I inherited my cleaning skills from my mother—who, even while suffering from emphysema could knock the shit out of a dirty house in nothing flat. To be fair, there's a major difference between "cleaning" and "deep cleaning" or cleaning and organizing too. Maybe that's what Mr. 350 wanted to offer as a first-time thing, followed by less expensive touch-ups. I know several cleaning people who do things that way with new clients.

 

Could be, he didn't say ... but I'm still hard pressed to see how it could cost $350 to clean or deep clean a cabin.

[operalover21]

I can't resist:

 

"Why do I pay my lawyer, who makes me feel so miserable, so much; and my cleaning lady, who makes me feel so good, so little?"

 

I wouldn't pay anyone anything who made me feel miserable. What a dumb quote. I believe in paying people what the job is worth. Period.

[operalover21]

Her cleaning skills, and... her hyperresponsible ability to manage money.

 

Hold on, let me go get you a towel so you can clean yourself up.

 

 

Okay, marry ME!

[operalover21]

60 and twinky?

 

I couldn't figure out how else to describe him. He was 60 but had that too thin body of a twink in his 20s. He also had his hand on his hip -- in reverse, you know -- it made me think he thought he was in a drag review instead of in the middle of the woods in WI.

[Mac64]

I like lakeside cabins, Manhattan Apts and Hamptons Beach Houses, 48 not 60, muscular not twinky, and like a clean, organized space....maybe we can work something out! It is funny what people try to charge in the middle of nowhere. I have a cabin on a lake in Northern Michigan and some things are unbelievably cheap to get people to do and others make me think they are out of their mind.

[rocky]

What I find interesting is that there's complaining for those giving a price for a service, yet how much complaining do we do when we see escorts, i.e. I charge $300 per hour; or I charge $150 per hour but I only do this and that. Sometimes you get what you pay for..

[Epigonos]

I live in a 1,200 square foot condo and have just let my cleaning lady, of many years, go. I paid her $60.00 a visit and she came twice a month. I have finally concluded that if I want my house to be neat and look clean having someone do it works just fine. However if I want my home to be neat and to BE CLEAN I must do it myself. I will readily admit that when it comes to how my house looks I am a definite obsessive compulsive. I have tile floors throughout and I want them moped twice a month and every piece of furniture in the place moved once a month. I wipe down all cabinets one a month and also clean the glass on all picture (I have over one hundred) once a month. The two bathrooms are thoroughly cleans weekly and my shower is squeegeed and towel dried after every usage. This list could go on and on but I have found that the only way I can keep the place the way I want it is to spend about an hour plus every day working on it. Being retired I get home from the gym and coffee about seven in the morning and by nine the place is ready and the rest of the day is mine to do whatever.

[+ Charlie]

This is a subject that makes me so nostalgic. For years I had housecleaners in the inner city, who charged $50 or $60 every week to clean my houses; usually it took about four hours for a 6-7 room (+ 2 bathrooms) house. Unfortunately, when I retired and moved to the country, I suddenly had housekeeping expenses I never had before--poolman, gardeners, pest control, tree maintenance ($3000/yr), etc.--and realized I would have to do my own housecleaning, especially since I could no longer claim I was too busy to do it myself. Like Epigonos, I am picky about cleanliness, but luckily my housecleaners were always gay men who were anal retentive in the best sense (one of them used to even wash all the lightbulbs every two months). It's a luxury I wish I could still justify.

[+ purplekow]

Like Epigonos, I am picky about cleanliness, but luckily my housecleaners were always gay men who were anal retentive in the best sense (one of them used to even wash all the lightbulbs every two months). It's a luxury I wish I could still justify.

 

How about this justification: I have earned a bit of luxury in my life and this is something i want. I am fairly frugal but I am not cheap and I indulge myself on occasion because if I don't who will?

[JoeyBryant]

I can't resist:

 

"Why do I pay my lawyer, who makes me feel so miserable, so much; and my cleaning lady, who makes me feel so good, so little?"

 

Attorneys are good. Lawyers are bad. Especially the ones that swoon to your mailbox like vultures after you receive the slightest traffic violation.

 

However if I want my home to be neat and to BE CLEAN I must do it myself.

 

That's true...The only 'housecleaning' I get is the housekeeping at hotels a few times a month. But even then, I still find myself going thru lysoling things down and finding strands of hair lying around. Then I have to wonder after they clean so many rooms so many days a week they probably get tired and take shortcuts on stuff...possibly missing something significant. On a micro level, if you really want clean...you have to get in there. Wipe the area you just laid the dirty condom down at, or where the guy may have shot off his spunk a few feet away. Only YOU will know where to find that, not the cleaning lady.

 

But I can understand why some hire cleaning staff. I have a small apartment and It can take up a couple hours cleaning it. I have an aquarium that I clean once a month that can take just as long.

[operalover21]

I live in a 1,200 square foot condo and have just let my cleaning lady, of many years, go. I paid her $60.00 a visit and she came twice a month. I have finally concluded that if I want my house to be neat and look clean having someone do it works just fine. However if I want my home to be neat and to BE CLEAN I must do it myself. I will readily admit that when it comes to how my house looks I am a definite obsessive compulsive. I have tile floors throughout and I want them moped twice a month and every piece of furniture in the place moved once a month. I wipe down all cabinets one a month and also clean the glass on all picture (I have over one hundred) once a month. The two bathrooms are thoroughly cleans weekly and my shower is squeegeed and towel dried after every usage. This list could go on and on but I have found that the only way I can keep the place the way I want it is to spend about an hour plus every day working on it. Being retired I get home from the gym and coffee about seven in the morning and by nine the place is ready and the rest of the day is mine to do whatever.

 

Sophie, my retired cleaning woman, was a complete and total gem. She even put things back exactly where she found them. My NYC person is also terrific. The Hamptons one is just okay. When Sophie retired I gave her a big fat thank you bonus for all she had done for me over the years including getting the cabin ready after the winter for my return. She was salt of the earth. I'm grateful for people like that who do tasks that I have neither the time nor inclination to perform.

[bigvalboy]

This is a subject that makes me so nostalgic. For years I had housecleaners in the inner city, who charged $50 or $60 every week to clean my houses; usually it took about four hours for a 6-7 room (+ 2 bathrooms) house. Unfortunately, when I retired and moved to the country, I suddenly had housekeeping expenses I never had before--poolman, gardeners, pest control, tree maintenance ($3000/yr), etc.--and realized I would have to do my own housecleaning, especially since I could no longer claim I was too busy to do it myself. Like Epigonos, I am picky about cleanliness, but luckily my housecleaners were always gay men who were anal retentive in the best sense (one of them used to even wash all the lightbulbs every two months). It's a luxury I wish I could still justify.

 

My father used to always say, "If not now, when?"

[Phil_musc]

Operalover, while I agree with what you have written about your cabin cleaning situation in the backwoods of Wisconsin, might you consider another angle? Might you be missing the entertainment value here of watching 4, yup, count 'em up - 4 Sissy-Marys who come around and devote themselves to cleaning your cabin. I know, I know - I'm normally not into camp-style humor either, but maybe you and I just need to change our perspective here. They might actually be fun to watch - and let's be honest here, what else is there to do in the backwoods of Wisconsin? Go bear-hunting or some such worthy, manly pursuit? Think about it a moment. Then too, the TV situation there is probably pretty bleak too. All that unstructured time for you with no companionship? Did you ever see the Jack Nicholson movie "The Shining?" Actually $350 might save your sanity there. I say "go for it" and don't forget to write a review.

[operalover21]

Operalover, while I agree with what you have written about your cabin cleaning situation in the backwoods of Wisconsin, might you consider another angle? Might you be missing the entertainment value here of watching 4, yup, count 'em up - 4 Sissy-Marys who come around and devote themselves to cleaning your cabin. I know, I know - I'm normally not into camp-style humor either, but maybe you and I just need to change our perspective here. They might actually be fun to watch - and let's be honest here, what else is there to do in the backwoods of Wisconsin? Go bear-hunting or some such worthy, manly pursuit? Think about it a moment. Then too, the TV situation there is probably pretty bleak too. All that unstructured time for you with no companionship? Did you ever see the Jack Nicholson movie "The Shining?" Actually $350 might save your sanity there. I say "go for it" and don't forget to write a review.

 

LOL. You make some good points Actually, since it's a club situation there is plenty to do including a stunning 9 hole golf course on the property, fishing, and other people who come up for the summer who I knew when I was a kid.

 

But I'm guessing the "team" is not prissy or interesting at all and five minutes in the presence of Mr. Prissy Anal Retentive Cologne was enough to last a lifetime